VCU’S DEA WORKED ON ‘LINCOLN’

Autumn Dea (far left) with Spielberg (center) on the set of ‘Lincoln’.

This item previously ran on the blog in October of 2011, but was removed after about a day. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding about when it would run, and the production company’s desire not to disclose information about the film. “Lincoln” has since been released in theaters and has garnered significant Oscar buzz. Below is the original note on former VCU Field Hockey player Autumn Dea.

RICHMOND, Va. – Field Hockey junior and cinema major Autumn Dea is having a bit of a surreal week, her first as an intern with the Assistant Director’s Department for the movie Lincoln, which will be filmed mostly in Richmond. The film will be directed by Steven Spielberg and includes stars Daniel Day-Lewis (who will play Abraham Lincoln), Joseph Gordon Levitt, Sally Fields and Tommy Lee Jones. Shooting began today.

“It’s just nuts,” says Dea, a Honey Brook, Pa. native. “There are hundreds of crew members. It’s like a dream. Whenever I go in, I’ll look at the call sheet for the day and at the top it’ll say Director/Producer, Steven Spielberg. I’m just staring at it.”

Dea, the only current VCU student-athlete majoring in cinema, will be helping the second directors on set. According to skillset.org, “Second directors prepare and draw up the next day’s call sheet, (which involves confirming the details of who needs to be on set and at what time, the transport arrangements, extras required etc.).”

Field hockey season is in full swing, which makes this a less than ideal time for Dea to serve and internship. During the season, Dea will work on Lincoln roughly three days a week, which will require her to wake at 5:45 a.m. on those days. Although juggling field hockey, class and an internship is draining, Dea says it was a no brainer.

Dea played field hockey at VCU from 2009-11.

“It’s something you can’t pass up. You make it work,” she said.

Dea had previously worked as a freelance editor and a volunteer on some smaller productions, but nothing approaching this scale. According to IMDB, the production budget for Lincoln is rumored to be $100 million. Shooting is expected to continue through December.

Spielberg is one of the most influential directors and producers ever, churning out films like Schindler’s List, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Color Purple and Jurassic Park, to name a few. Rarely is there a Spielberg-directed vehicle that isn’t a blockbuster.

With that in mind, Dea said that pretty much every VCU cinema major (about 100) applied to work on the film in some capacity, but only a handful were selected.

When she graduates next year, Dea will weigh her options. She’s considering applying for the VCU Brandcenter to study advertising. From there, Dea expects to end up in New York or Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. Ultimately, Dea says she’d love to be a director.

“I like being a storyteller. I like conveying a concept,” Dea said. “The chance to put your ideas out there in possibly the most influential art form…and then you can be so creative and you can do so much with film.”